On this day: William Burke | Challenger crash | Taylor Report

The death mask of William Burke

1580: King James VI signed the Confession of Faith, later incorporated into the National Covenant of 1638.

1807: London’s Pall Mall was the first street in any city to be illuminated by gaslight. It was the idea of a German inventor named Winsor.

1829: William Burke, Irish body-snatcher, who joined William Hare in Scotland in selling bodies to Doctor Knox for research, and eventually murdering to supplement their stock, was hanged for his crimes in front of a huge crowd. Hare escaped the gallows by turning king’s evidence.

1846: British & East India Company troops defeated Sikhs at Aliwal in India.

1884: The first Ireland versus Scotland football international took place in Belfast. Scotland won 5-0.

1885: British relief force reached Khartoum, and the Sudan was evacuated.

1890: Electric light was installed in the British Museum, London.

1896: The first speeding fine was handed out to a British motorist, Walter Arnold of Kent, for exceeding 2mph in a built-up area. He was doing 8mph.

1909: United States control in Cuba was ended.

1926: Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, fell from his horse and broke his collar bone. Later that year he fell again, causing MPs to complain about the risks taken by the man “who will one day be king”.

1935: Iceland passed a law legalising abortion on medical/social grounds, the first country to introduce such legislation.

1953: Derek Bentley, 19, was hanged at Wandsworth Prison, despite considerable public protest. He and Christopher Craig, 16, had been found guilty of murdering a policeman, but Craig escaped the gallows because of his age.

1959: Two women passengers and the driver died when a Glasgow tram caught fire after collision with a lorry.

1960: The last Goon Show was heard on BBC radio. It had run since 28 May, 1951.

1976: United States Senate approved 200-mile fishing limit off American coasts.

1986: The space shuttle Challenger exploded soon after lift-off from Cape Canaveral, killing the crew of seven including Christa McAuliffe, a schoolteacher selected as the first to fly in the “citizen in space” programme.

1990: Mr Justice Taylor’s report into Hillsborough disaster called for all-seater stadia by 1999 and tagging of football hooligans.